Glass-rolling apparatus.



No. 805,657; PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905.

' A. MEYER.

` GLASS ROLLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 00T. 10. 1904.

3 S S--SHEET 1.

j?? If l Ijmumnf .lullinl "Hlm" IrczezWq-L- No. 805,657. PATENTED NOV.28, 1905.

`A. MEYER.

GLASS ROLLING APPARATUS. APPLIGATION FILED 00T. 10. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 805,657. PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905.

A. MEYER.

GLASS ROLLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 0011.10. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES ANTON MEYER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

GLASS-ROLLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 28, 1905.

Application filed October l0, 1904. Serial No. 227,808.

T0 a/ZZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, ANTON MEYER, a citizen of the United States, residingin the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Glass-Rolling Apparatus, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for rolling glass, the apparatusbeing more particularly intended for use in rolling wireglass, or glasshaving a layer of Wire fabric embedded therein. The apparatusis,however,suitable tor use in rolling plain sheet-glass.

Figure I is a top or plan view of my apparatus with parts broken out.Fig. II is a vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus. Fig. IIIis-an enlarged vertical cross-section taken on line III III, Fig. II.Fig. IV is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line IV IV, Fig.III. tion taken on line V V, Fig. III. Fig. VI is a section takenthrough a portion of the carriage-table of the apparatus and 'one of thegages surmounting said table, a fragment of one of the rolls of theapparatus being shown in elevation surmounting said gage. Fig. VII is aview looking at a portion of one of the side edges ot' thecarriage-table and one of the adjustable racks carried by Asaid table.Fig. VIII is an outline plan view of a track and siding and my apparatusshown in connection therewith.

1 designates a series of standards that are arranged in pairstransversely of the apparatus, the various pairs oi' standards beingunited by tie-beams 2. Each standard 1 is bifurcated throughout itsupper portion, the upper end of each post being partly closed by innerand outer side plates 3 and by a top bearing-cap 4. Beneath the sideplates 3 the standards are open, as seen most clearly at 5, Fig. III.

6 designates bevel-pinions that are centrally bored and tapped and theShanks of which are journaled vertically in the bearing-caps 4 to rotatetherein.

7 designates bevel-pinions meshing with the pinions 6 and ixed to ahorizontal shaft 8, which is journaled in brackets 9, secured to thebearing-caps 4L. The horizontal shaft is provided with a hand-wheel 10,by which it may be rotated to impart rotation to the pinions 6 throughthe'medium of the pinions 7.

11 designates screw lift-rods that operate Fig. V is a horizontalsecvertically in the pinions 6 and which extend downwardly through thebifurcated portions ot' the standards 1 and are provided at their lowerends with heads 12. These lift-rods have iitted to them nuts 13, that.ride within the standards 1 and are provided with tongues 14, which ridein vertical grooves 15 in the standards and serve to prevent rotation ofsaid nuts when the lift-rods are operated therein. 16 are springssurmounting the nuts 13 and serving to hold them depressed.

17 designates vertically-movable boxes fitted in the open portions ofthe standards 1 beneath the nuts 13. These boxes are supported by thescrew lift-rods 11, the heads of which are loosely seated in the boxes,as seen in Figs. III and IV. For the sake otl convenience in theintroduction of the boxes 17 into the standards I provide doorways inthe walls of the standards, through which the boxes may be introduced,these doorways being closed by doors 18. (See Fig. IV.)

19 designates rolls, the shafts 2O ot' which are journaled in the boxes17 to extend transversely of the apparatus between the pairs oi'standards 1. Each of the shafts 2O has iixed to it a pair of spur-wheels21, one of said wheels being located adjacent to one end of each roll 19and the other spur-wheel being located adjacent to the other end of saidroll.

The rolls 19 and spur -wheels associated therewith occupy a suilicientelevation above a pair of carriage track-rails A to permit of the travelo`t` a carriage on said rails beneath said rolls. This carriage isconstructed as follows: 22 designates the carriage trackwheels, and 23are the axles of said wheels, that are journaled in axle-boxes 24. 25 isthe carriage-table, that is supported above the wheels 22 by side frames26, secured to the axle-boxes 24. 27 designates rack-bars fitted to thecarriage side frames 26 adjacent to the sides ot' the table 25, eachrack-bar being provided with vertical slots 28, that receive clampbolts29, seated in the side frames 26. Provision is thereby made for verticaladjustment of the rack-bars, which is readily accomplished by looseningthe nuts of the bolts v29 and again tightening them after the rackbarshave been raised or lowered. The rackbars are located immediatelybeneath the spurwheels 21, which are arranged to mesh therewith to berotated when the carriage is reciprocated to and fro on the track-railsA. 30

(see Figs. I, III, and VI) designates gagestrips removably seated on theAcarriage-table IOO IIO

25, to which they are held by studs 31, that enter into the pockets 32in the table. `(See Fig. VI.) These gage-strips are made of varyingthicknesses, according to the thickness it is desired to roll a sheet ofglass, thin strips being used when a thin sheet of glass is to be rolledand thicker strips used when thicker sheets are to be rolled. 33designates guard-plates that serve to restrict the outward spread of theglass being rolled upon the carriage-table 25. These guard-plates aresupported by hangers 33. loosely mountedupon the roll-shafts 2O at theends of the rolls, and cross-bars 33, extending' longitudinally of theroll. rIhe cross-bars are provided with a plurality of pin-holes throughwhich pins or screws are introduced and seated in the guardplates,thereby providing' for the adjustment of the plates to or from eachother to vary the s pace between them according to the width of thesheet of glass being rolled. Then any one of the rolls is in elevatedposition, the guard-plates may be supported by a suitable hanger, suchas the hanger-chains 331. (See Fig. II.)

34. designates aguide-roller that opposes the roll 19 at the receivingend of the apparatus and which is gravitatingly supported by arms 35,that are pivoted at 36 to the inner side plates 3 of the adjacentstandards 1. This roller serves to direct the travel of the wire fabricas it enters the apparatus, as will hereinafter appear.

In the practical use of my apparatus in rolling sheet-glass with wirefabric embedded therein the fabric is passed over the roll 34 anddownwardly between said roller and the adjacent roll 19 to the carriagetable 25. When the forward end of the carriage is brought intojuxtaposition with the [irst roll 19 with which the guide-roller 34 isassociated, a quantity of molten glass is placed on the table to berolled thereon into a sheet as the carriage is moved forwardly. Duringsuch forward movement of the carriage the wire fabric (indicated by theletter B, see Fig. II) is drawn with the molten glass and pressedthereinto. As the carriage moves in the direction of one of thesucceeding rolls a second quantity of molten glass is placed above thewire fabric previouslyT rolled by the lirst roll, and this secondquantity is rolled into a second layer above the wire fabric by thesecond roll 19, thereby embedding and inclosing' the wire fabric. Toaccomplish the desired result, the first roll is lowered to a lowerlevel than the second roll, as seen in Fig. II, so that the two layersof glass will be made one in a stratum surmounting the other. The rolls19 are raised and lowered at will to produce the desired thickness oflayers by manipulating the shafts 8 corresponding to the proper rollsthrough the medium of the hand-wheels 10, thereby imparting rotation tothe bevelpinions 7 and 6 and raising the boxes 17, in

which the roll-shafts are journaled. These boxes have the desiredvertical movement imparted thereto by the turning of the screw lift-rods11 in the pinions 6 and the nuts 13. The thickness to which the sheet ofglass is to be rolled is readily governed by the introduction of thegage-strips 30 of varying thicknesses, accordingto the thickness ofthesheet of glass it is desired to produce, and these gage-striiis beinglocated on the carriage-table immediately beneath the rolls the rollswill travel thereupon and cannot operate to produce a sheet of lessthickness than that desired. Vhen a change is to be made to produce asheet of glass of different thickness from that previously produced, theproper gage-strips are placed upon the carriage-table in lieu of thosepreviously used, and to compensate for the necessary elevating orlowering of the rolls'19 the rack-bars 27 are raised or lowered, so thatthey will mesh properly with the spur-wheels 21 opposing them. In thedrawings I have illustrated a set of three rolls 19; but it is apparentthat two rolls only or any other number greater than three may be madeuse of, the two rolls being' suflicient for the accomplishment of thedesired result. I prefer to use three or more rolls for the reason thatwhenone of the rolls becomes abnormally heated in operating upon themolten glass it may be elevated and placed out of service to cool whilethe other rolls are being utilized. When a sheet of glass has beenrolled on the carriage, the carriage is conveyed to an annealing-oven inwhich the sheet of glass is annealed as a finishing step.

While I have described my apparatus as used in the production ofwire-glass, it is obvious that it may be made use of to roll plainsheet-glass by simply omitting the step of embedding wire fabric intothe sheet. When the apparatus is so used, a single roll. or any greaternumber of rolls may be utilized.

[n Fig. VIILI have shown in outline a track, a portion of anannealing-oven, and my apparatus associated therewith. In this view, Ais the main-track rails, and D a siding leading therefrom and thereto. Cis the rolling portion of my apparatus, the carriage with its table 25being shown upon the main-track rails. E is an annealing-oven to whichthe glass is conveyed on the carriage after it has been rolled. Vhen thecarriage has been placed in the annealing-oven and withdrawn therefrom,it is transferred onto the siding D, where the finished sheet of glassis removed, andthe carriage is then brought back to again enter therolling portion of the apparatus, as before, for the process of rolling'the next sheet of glass.

l claim as my invention- 1. In a glass-rolling apparatus, thecombination of a table, a series of rolls surmounting said table, meansfor rotating said rolls, standards in which said rolls are mounted, a

IOO

guide-roller associated With one of said rolls and occupying a positionabove the axis of the roll, and means whereby said guide-roller isgravitatingly connected With a pair of said standards in which saidlast-named roll is mounted, substantially as set forth. '2. In aglass-rolling apparatus, the combination of a reciprocating carriagehaving a table, rolls surmounting said table and geared to saidcarriage, and guard-plates carried by the shafts of said rolls andhanging suspended above said table, substantially as set forth.

3. In a glass-rolling apparatus. the combination of a table, rollssurmounting said table,

guard-plates located adjacent to said rolls,

means whereby said guard-plates are adjustably supported; saidsupporting means consisting of hangers mounted upon the shafts of said'rolls, and cross-bars to which said guard-plates are adjustably fitted,substantially as set forth.

4. In a glass-rolling apparatus, the combination of a table, a series ofrolls surmounting said table. means for rotating said rolls, standardsin which said rolls are mounted, links pivoted to one pair ot saidstandards and a guide-roller gravitatingly supported by said links in aposition above the axis of the adjacent roll mounted in the standards towhich said guide-roller is connected, substantially as set forth.

ANTON .MEYER In presence ot'- E. S. KNIGHT, NELLIE V. ALEXANDER.

